Exhibit Coming to an End
Dear Editor,
All good things must come to an end. The successful public art exhibit, Of Many Minds, by award winning Massachusetts artist Michael Alfano, is closing mid- December with removal of sculptures. Over the past eighteen months, Boston residents and visitors delighted in the twenty sculptures installed along the Harborwalk in the Charlestown Navy Yard.
Enlivening and enhancing our neighborhood through public art is a key tenet of the Navy Yard Garden & Art mission statement. We are pleased that the “Of Many Minds” exhibit inspired people to explore our unique corner of the city, to pause and read the sculpture inscriptions, to pose with a favorite sculpture and to sit and stay for a while. We have many to thank for this successful multi-year project.
Thank you to the early community supporters, the BPDA and the Boston Art Commission for their confidence in our organization and for approving an eighteen-month exhibit. We thank the Charlestown community and our sponsors for contributing the necessary funds to bring the exhibit to the Navy Yard. As an all- volunteer non-profit organization, Navy Yard Garden & Art is a proud recipient of a grant from the MassPort Community Fund which supported programming to complement the exhibit. We thank our partners for opportunities to collaborate, including Copley Society of Art, Continuum Dance Project, Boston Harbor City Cruises, Boston National Historic Park, USS Constitution Museum, Courageous Sailing, Friends of the Boston Harborwalk, The TrikeHub, and Coalition for a Resilient and Inclusive Waterfront. Thank you to our supporters, partners, and sponsors:
Boston Harbor City Cruises
Charles River Insurance
Charlestown Marina
Citizens Bank in Charlestown
Copley Society of Art
Cut-Splice
Friends of the Charlestown Navy Yard
HarborView Apartments
MGH Institute of Health Professions
Parris Landing
SignArt
Spaulding Rehabilitation
Thayer & Associates
The Anchor
The Anthem Group
For those inclined to make a tax-deductible contribution to support our work, go to: www.navyyardgarden.org/donate
Thank you for supporting public art..
Robin DiGiammarino,
President
Navy Yard Garden & Art
Thank You
Dear Editor
Thank you to the organizers, participants and supporters of the Mark & Michelle Gorman Memorial annual cornhole tournament in September. My family and I appreciate the scholarship money as it will help with my high school tuition.
Again, thanks so much to the organizers, friends and family and all those who participated in the cornhole tournament. The tournament honored some wonderful townies including Mark, Michelle and Ruthie Gorman, Mimi Wrenn and Jimmy Hingston.
We are lucky to live in such a great community.
Owen McHale
On the Constitution Inn
Dear Editor,
I write regarding the proposed redevelopment of the Constitution Inn in the historic Charlestown Navy Yard, but also with regards to a worrisome trend in our city’s development system. Too frequently, and seemingly increasingly, city officials have truncated or outright circumvented the carefully rendered procedural necessities of development – and almost always to the detriment of local stakeholders and working families. Article 80 was written by the people of the City of Boston with a purpose, and enshrined in the municipal zoning code to present clear guidelines, both to developers and to local residents. Even in instances where the cause itself is well-intended, the rights and prerogatives of neighborhood stakeholders should never be sacrificed for expediency and profit.
I believe that Charlestown residents have the right to a full development review process with regards to the proposed Constitution Inn project, and am requesting that no additional advances be made until the investment is made in collaboration with the community. I concur with my colleague Councilor Coletta that Charlestown is entitled to input from an Impact Advisory Group, a scoping determination session, and the other prerogatives provided for in Article 80.
As I am already on the record in opposition to the proposal as currently formulated, please let me reiterate that I am supportive of the overarching goals as put forth by St. Francis House and the Archdiocese of Boston. For a variety of reasons, Boston faces an undeniable housing crisis and we must be creative and flexible in locating solutions. In doing so, we must center and prioritize historically underserved communities, addressing head-on the painful inequities that for too long have plagued our city.
It is, in my opinion and that of many constituents whom I’ve consulted, for that reason that it’s imperative we get the process right, along with the intentions behind it. The people we are seeking to serve ought to be empowered with a residential environment that has benefited from the full investment of the community. With pressure on our housing system now coming from all sides – including the influx of migrant families that has forced difficult decisions on policymakers at every level – we should be ensuring long-term stability and health through the full buy-in of local stakeholders.
In short, I’d like us to get this process right. The vulnerable and historically underserved populations we are hoping to address deserve that, and the neighborhood deserves that. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me at [email protected] or 617-635-3115. Thank you very much; I look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely,
Erin Murphy
Boston City Councilor At-Large